Offender of new Senate Social media bill risk 3 months jail

The Senator representing Niger East Senatorial District, Sani Musa, has said that his bill on social media was aimed at guiding the users and not to gag the media practitioners in Nigeria.

The bill titled, "Protection from Internet Falsehood and Manipulation Bill 2019, passed first reading on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday.

Justifying his reasons for reintroducing the bill in an interview with journalists, Musa said it was aimed at ensuring sanity in the social media.

He said individuals who posted false information on the internet, when found guilty, would be asked to pay N150, 000 or sentenced to three months imprisonment.

The Senator added that any corporate organisation that refused to block false information after the regulating agency had alerted would be penalised between N5m to N10m.

He also said telecommunications firms that allowed their network to be used disseminate false information, could risk yet to be specified heavy sanctions.

He said, "For any patriotic Nigerian who will want to see this country in love, peace, and prosperity, we all desire to have as a country.

"Nigeria is not only for the government but for every Nigerian and we must all work towards moving this country to where it needs to be.

"You can see America and other advanced countries today, they have been for hundreds of years.

"They have their period of turmoil and challenges like ours but they have been able to pass through.

"How did they do it? There were legislations, and rule of law because people were adhering to laws.

"For a country like Nigeria today and with the advent of social media, there is every reason for a country to as much as possible focus it's attention to see how this new media is tolerated."

He said it was possible for individuals to stay in a room and post false information just to get at someone.

The Senator said, "I have a passion for IT and I know what it takes to disseminate your information, it is like the speed of light.

"Some journalists will look at this legislation as if we are trying to bring a law that will gag the Social Media or the right to free press.

"It is a legislation that will guide how we can tolerate our activities on social media.

"False information has been disseminated so many time and they have caused so many chaoses in different parts of the World.

"There are so many things that are positive within social media. For instance, a young lady that is getting married and wants the world to know could do so through social media.

"I felt we need it in this country if countries like the Philippines, Singapore, Italy, Malaysia, Australia, France, Indonesia, Egypt are putting preventive measures to control the spread of false information.

"What stops us from doing it? There has never been a time where Nigeria has been very fragile in terms of its unity than this period.

"It is not to stop people from going into the internet to do whatever they feel legitimately is okay to do but what we felt is wrong is for you to use the medium to document information that you know is false, just because you want to achieve your desirable interest.

"If you commit an offence of this nature, and by virtue of what you have committed, the law enforcement agencies will take you to the court.

"There will be a court process that will prove that you have done something wrong. It is not just anonymously that they will pick you.

"You can appeal. It will serve as deterrence to others, we should fix certain penalties that when you know you will cough out something, you won't do it.

"if today, you can disseminate information on your President, taking a picture of the President and putting it in an invitation card, giving false information of your President.

"The office is the highest seat in the land. It is sacrosanct. It is something we cannot see it as anyhow information and you think that is just part of freedom of information or there is liberalisation of Social Media so you can do anything. As far as I am concerned it is wrong.

"If anyone is caught with this kind of situation, you cough out between N150,000 to a maximum imprisonment of three years or both.

"If it is a corporate organisation that refused to block that false information despite the fact that they have been alerted by authorities not to disseminate that information for public interest and they still go-ahead to do it, refusing to do that blockage will be penalised between N5m to N10 m for those organisations.

"For example, MTN, Glo, 9 mobile, etc. which we use their platform in transmitting this information, if nothing is done, would be fined to serve as deterrence to others.

"We want to do this very transparently in safeguarding all of us.

"I felt as a developing nation facing so many challenges that there is no better time than to regulate this.

"If advanced countries and those not up to Nigeria are regulating, I don't see why we should not do it.

"I know a lot of people will abuse it but we also put some clauses to safeguard these abuses."